Secrets
by rengaa
Summary: People keep secrets. It's our nature. But when you change, how many secrets are revealed? Especially when you're stuck. Something big happened that made Roxas so guarded about those guys... 1st POV, slash, pairings develop
1. Chapter 1

hey I've read a ton of fics where Axel's the guy who's messed up and Roxas happens to fall for him or something. I love stories like that so I wanted to try and make my own but with the roles switched. Kinda… ANYWAYS, this will always be told in first person (not always just Roxas or Axel, mind you) because I wanted to try it.

…

And if you do happen to continue in wanting to read this (say yes?), don't judge the characters on their first appearances (especially **Seifer**)!

awkward Demyx moment

**disclaimer** me own nada

✖**1 ******Roxas

I've never been fond of the ocean. Or lakes, rivers; anything entirely made of water for that matter really. And so being surrounded by nothing but dark blue, bottomless water and white-capped waves is not what I'd call a happy moment. Mom puts a hand on my shoulder and stands next to me.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" She's looking out at the sea with a smile on her face. Her long, blonde hair shines in the bright sunlight.

"Only to people like you, Mom." She blinks and ruffles my equally blond hair. God, how I hate that.

"Cheer up, we're going someplace new! You can start over and make new friends and-" She rambles on again about how moving to Destiny Islands will change my so called 'pathetic' life around for what seems like the millionth time today. I've heard it before, way too many times and I'm sick of it. I don't need to hear it from my principal, psychologist and now my parents too. Once is enough, thanks. I can figure out that stuff myself because, contrary to popular belief, I'm smart. I've made some bad choices, 'mistakes' you might say, but I'm not an idiot.

When she seems done, I continue being silent.

"Fine, ignore me. But when your father comes he's not going to let you just sit there and stare at things." She takes her hand off my shoulder – finally – and walks back to her seat on the passenger boat. I love Mom, I really do, but sometimes she just doesn't get me at all.

Boredom pulls my hand up, through my hair and it feels disgusting. Probably because of the ocean splashing in my face. Curse you, ocean god.

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Mom practically jumps out of the car when we pull up to what I assume is my new jail cell. I, on the other hand, take my time stepping out of the dark green Ford I've been driven around in for the past 15 years. The house in front of us is white with blue shutters and doors. I'm expecting a fairy to fly out of the branches of the tree in front of it but I guess my hallucinogen days are over.

I slam the door, trying to prove how much I do not want to be here but apparently mom's 'ignore-my-son' level has increased since we last chatted. I follow her into the two-story house and try to keep up with her excited skipping. We pass a decent sized kitchen connected to a decent sized dining room and a decent sized living room. Can you tell how enthusiastic I am? I trail her up the stairs, passing cardboard boxes clearly labeled with capital letters for which room they were destined to fill. I roll my eyes at a torn box clearly labeled 'FRAGILE' and wonder what priceless item was shattered.

"Roxas, that's your room. Go and get settled." Mom bounces a little further down the hallway and turns into what I assume is her bedroom. I turn the knob on my new pad and step into a pretty empty room. The room is painted dark blue – a plus since it's one of the better colors – and there's a big window on the longer wall as well as a cream carpeted floor. My possessions, I assume, are still in boxes downstairs but they can wait I guess. As long as the 'FRAGILE' bow wasn't one of mine, I'm fine. There's also my bed and dresser already here and out of the window I can see sturdy-looking tree branches. I make a mental note for when I need an escape route.

For being in an unbearable new environment, this is a plus.

Sighing, I travel downstairs and haul one over-packed box after another over-packed box to my new room.

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"ROXAS! ROXAS! SCHOOL! WAKE UP **NOW**!"

Ugg, what a way to wake up. Does anyone believe in alarm clocks anymore? I thought I set mine! I bury my head under my black pillow and attempt to block out mom's screeching. It's no use though since moments later I'm thrown out of the bed.

"Mom! I'm naked! God, why don't you knock?" I splutter, pulling a sheet around my body that had been pulled off the bed with me. This is embarrassing! She rolls her eyes.

"Puh-lease. You are not naked. You've got boxers on." Like that makes _such_ a big difference. "You have to catch the bus in ten minutes! High tail it!"

I can just tell this is _not_ going to be a good day.

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After surviving an excruciatingly boring fifteen-minute ride to Destiny Islands High – so original isn't it – I weave my way through the crowded hallways. Considering how short I am for my age, this is an easier task than you might think. I reach room 813 (either it's the biggest school in the world or they just want you to think that) and enter my homeroom. Of course my homeroom has to also be math, my worst subject in school.

Technically, they are all my worst subjects but this is the _very _worst. I said I'm not stupid but I'm not a genius either.

The classroom is so empty you can almost hear the wind blowing through the desks. The teacher isn't even there. Just some geeky redhead freckled kid who looks up from a thick math textbook when he hears me shuffling in. He eyes me as if I was the newest big celebrity.

"Hi." He stays seated but smiles brightly.

"Hi…" I never have been good with meeting people. I seemed to always figure out some way to screw it up.

"Who are you?"

What, no teacher told you 'o kiddies, tomorrow we're having a new student so everybody welcome him with a big hug!'?

"I'm the new guy." He smirks.

"Your name."

"Roxas." Simple.

"I'm Jimmy. Jimmy Miller." Do not get up do not get up. "Nice to meet you."

"Same." Not particularly but then, who am I going to get to do my homework? Jimmy Miller looks like a smart, but weak guy…

"So Mr. Luxord is your homeroom?" Mr. Luxord?

"Apparently." By now I've made it to a seat in the last row, same column as Jim-bo.

"Boy, you're cheerful." I turn. There is some new guy who looks in his late twenties, early thirties so I assume he's the teacher. Mr. Luxord perhaps? Well, whoever he is, he's got nice style. Short cropped blond hair and short stubble on his chin (matching color) with a blue earring and matching blue eyes. He's wearing black jeans with a tight white t-shirt. Good thing the guy was pretty fit, otherwise this could really hurt my eyes.

"Ah, excuse me. I'm Luxord. Your teacher. You must be Roxas. Transfer from Twilight Town correct?" He nods when he talks. It reminds me of a parrot.

I nod but he seems to be the kind of teacher who expects spoken words. "Yes, I'm Roxas." But not a transfer. More like a POW.

"Ok well class starts in-" He looks at his watch like he doesn't already know. "now."

As if on cue, teenagers pour into the room and the bell rings. Most of them look like how I feel, half dead and very uncaring. A few notice me, the scrawny blond kid in the back of the class, and stare or avoid any further eye contact. I like the people who choose option two. It seems like the class is almost full except for the four chairs next to me in the back row. I'm surprised actually, they weren't the first seats to be filled. Luxord writes something up on the board but I watch the last few kids straggle in instead. They are definitely not paying attention to me so they are… let's say, _better _than the gawkers.

A kid with a light brown mohawk is the first to –practically- skip in, followed by a creepy guy with an eye patch and another kid with pink hair. Are you serious? Pink hair? How gay is that? Then some kid with unruly red hair saunters in. He's the one who sits next to me. Next to him is the mohawk guy. I could care less about queer-eye and Captain Sparrow.

Fortunately, Luxord decides not to embarrass me any more than I already am by making me introduce myself so I just stare out the window. That is, until somebody pokes my shoulder.

"Who are you?" It's the redhead, whispering below the drone of the teacher.

I eye him up and down. He's got a long nose and sender features and purple or black teardrop tattoos under his eyes. At least he has a personality that shows. "Roxas."

"I'm Axel. That's Demyx." He gestures to the smiley mohawk kid who waves. Oi vey. "The pink one is Marluxia and the guy with the bum eye is Xigbar." He sees my boredom and rushes on. "Um, where are you from?"

"Twilight Town." As if it matters.

"Really? Wow that's like, so far! Have we ever had a transfer from there before?" Demyx decides to whisper.

"Never." I can hear the awe in their voices. It's like I'm an alien or something.

"Well now you have." I turn back to the window. It's not like I'm antisocial or anything but I'm not in the mood for making friends right now. Plus it seems like the whole island so far smells like the ocean and it's putting me in a bummed mood. I hate the ocean.

"Axy, he's not nice…" I can hear the mohawk kid 'whispering'.

"Don't say that. Maybe he's just having a bad day." Gee, you read my mind.

I can feel at least one of them staring at the back of my head but it soon goes away and I can try to enjoy the blue sky again. Time passes slowly and I realize Luxord really doesn't care if you do work in his class or not so why bother writing down homework? Taking my time, I walk to gym -where I barely manage to run the required five laps around the track- then literature and science. I recognize some of the kids from homeroom in my classes but pay no heed and they give me none either. Taking longer than I expected, the time comes for lunch but as it seems, I turned the wrong corner because it was the dead end with the janitor's closet and apparently, the resident gang. Three heads turn to me, a blond bulky guy is taking a step closer and an even bigger guy crunching his knuckles together like the Incredible Hulk. I mean, all the guy needed to do was dye his skin green and he'd be a real-life superhero.

Or, maybe not. Villain perhaps? Brainless sidekick?

I take a step back from the big people coming closer. I'm not afraid of people like this. I had my time when I ran with a gang and I was pretty high in the pecking order there. I could defend myself then, I even took down a twenty year old after he looked at me the wrong way. Of course, compared to how that was at the beginning of last year and how unfit I was in PE this morning, who knows. Plus, I' kind of curious as to how far this 'gang' will go. I think I'll just let them punch me to see how it feels. But then, maybe I'm just crazy.

"Hey, I haven't seen you around here before." The blond kid sneers while he studies me. He's taller than me by at least a head and has muscles. They're not gigantic I-workout-five-hours-a-day-muscles but they're still there. Bigger than mine.

"New face." The quiet one who I didn't notice before hisses. I can't tell if that's a girl or a guy simply because they're kind of quiet and they have a rather unisex haircut.

"Hey maybe we should introduce ourselves ya, know?" The Incredible Hulk threatens with all of his brain capacity. He is definitely bigger than me, at least two, if not more heads taller than me and he's the one of the group who seems to workout five hours a day. He almost looks Hispanic…

"Good idea big guy." The suspected leader sneers again. He makes some gesture and before I can blink, I'm being pinned up against the wall by Hulk. I groan. How I loathe people like these guys who beat others up for no reason. Even some of the bad guys I knew back home didn't beat people up for idiotic and un-thought out reasons.

"I, am Seifer. This is Rai and that's Fuu." He pounds my stomach hard but I just grin and suck it in. "Now who the hell are you newbie?"

"Why should I waste energy on lowlife scumbags like you?" I spit. I'm good at pissing people off. Ah, a gift and a curse.

He just slaps my face and the fingers gripping my arms become more like bear claws.

"I'm Roxas." I spit.

"Nice to meet-" Punch. "You, Roxas." Punch. "Where's the money?" Punch.

"Pocket." Mr.Leader wastes no time in shoving his hand down my front pocket and pulling out all the coins that had been flung at me this morning before I was shoved out the door.

I do not consider this act to count as giving up per say. It's more of a 'here's what you want now get out of my life' type of thing. I, Roxas, do NOT surrender to anyone no matter what. Even if that equals a punch in the face, I do not wave a white flag for anyone.

He gives me one last punch in the stomach like I haven't co-operated and Hulk drops me to the floor. They walk away without as much as a 'we'll see you again' or 'watch your back' like most petty gangs in Twilight Town would. I raise my shirt until I reach my nipples so I can see he huge soon-to-be bruises going up and down my front. My cheek is sore so I can only assume it's violently bright red as well. I finger the bluish marks on my body and cringe. I am really not up to being beaten up constantly so I better do something.

"Kid." I instantly look toward the voice. It's …Axel? And Demucks? Whatever their names are, they're there, staring at me. I'm an alien again.

"What?" So intelligent, as always.

"You okay?" Demyx pipes up. He looks sad for some reason. It's then I realize why they weren't staring at my face but at my naked stomach and chest. I drop the shirt and they watch me stand up. I take the steps toward them and look up. Everyone's so much taller than lil ol' me.

"Ecstatic." I push pass them and into the cafeteria. I can't hear the words but I know they're talking.

Talking about me.

The tables aren't full but I decide to sit in the corner between the wall of windows and the trashcans. You can obviously see the cliques differing between tables. There's the jocks, matching jackets and all. Next to them are the busty cheerleaders and the other populars. I wonder how much surgery they've already had. Not to mention how many of them have eating disorders. Further away are the geeky/nerdy kids and I recognize Jimmy Miller laughing with somebody. Then there are the skaters and the wannabe pimps and then of course, the Goths but their table is considerably smaller than the others. I look around more and see that sitting at the table closest to the door are the kids from homeroom with some others whom I don't know, all talking about something and picking at the food of the day. The food smells reach me but I'm used to ignoring it.

And then there's me, in the corner, all alone, no food, no money, no friends. This is a first. In Twilight Town I at least had people who would watch my back. The closest people in my life were Hayner, Pence and Ollette and although I considered them 'friends' of a sort, to everyone else they were just troublemakers.

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I make it through the day with as little talking as possible, only to teachers and the random whoever who asked my name. I bump into Red and Mohawk once more and they just stare at me.

Alien.

I swing open the door to our little fairytale home and drop my light bag by the door. Not exactly one to take notes or do homework. Mom bounces into the hall like she's high. Lol

"How was baby's first day?" She squeezes me like I'm on my deathbed but finally lets me go after eternity. Sometimes I wonder how much of her hyper-ness is real and how much of it is a mask in an attempt to keep me happy.

"Just great, Mom." She can pick up my sarcasm in milliseconds.

"No, really. How was it?" She tucks a strand of yellow hair behind her ear.

"Horrid but I'll survive."

"O Honey." She sighs. "Please try to be friendly." As if she remembers how high school was.

"Sure Mom." I go upstairs, hearing another sigh where I left her.

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review…?


	2. Chapter 2

✖**2****✖**Roxas

Apparently, on sunny days – like there is any other weather here – you can sit and eat lunch outside. This is a good thing since trees easily shove trashcans off my lunch-buddy list any day. Today's classes were like yesterday's; math, P.E, English, science… the list goes on. After science today was when my glorious break started but then Seifer, Hulk and the freaky chick came along and made yesterday's bruises a little darker as well as being petty thieves and taking my money. Ow. Now I can feel where they punched me every time I move, every time I _breathe_. I'm lying on my back and it seems to lessen the pain – I have no idea why – so I try to count the apples in the tree above me.

That Demyx kid said 'hi' again in homeroom followed by a greeting from Axel. Can't forget Jimmy Miller either, he said 'good morning' as well… Other than that, no talking. None at all. I can't be sure if I like this new status or not. I mean, it's only my second day so I still have a chance to make _a_ friend. Face it, I get lonely too and mom's not exactly someone who I'm always open to. The only way to make friends is to socialize though and that is not a talent I master at.

If I did, I wouldn't be sitting by myself now would I?

The wind picks up from in front of me and blows my shirt up a little ways, also causing an apple to fall square in the middle of my forehead. I shoot up and feel the bruises but ignore them. I'm good at that, ignoring things. Groups of people are sitting under bunches of trees or milling about, all friendly with each other. It makes me jealous. A companion of any kind right now would suit me. I'd even settle for _that_ but then, why would I want to fuck up my life again in the same way?

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Two days later 4th day of school

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I almost expect the punch but it's the kick that catches me off guard. I collapse on the floor and when another kick is shot in the same place, I moan. Seifer blinks down at me, almost as if he's hesitating for some reason, his eyes wide, skin pink. I take my chance and try to stand but he knees my side. For some reason, it seems lighter than the others but maybe it's just me.

"God, what do you want from me?" I spit. Apparently he doesn't hear me or for some reason he's feeling merciful because he just digs in the usual pocket and takes my money. He races off to find a hot date with lackey No. 1 and 2. I just sit there and stare at the o-so-interesting wall in front of me.

"Roxas?" I blink. Woo-hoo, the walls are talking to me again.

"What?" My eyes stay on the wall.

Footsteps stop beside me but I don't turn.

"Are you ok?" Ok, that's Demyx.

"Fantastic, why?"

"Why do you let him beat you up everyday?" Axel's here too? Obviously I guess, it seems like they're inseparable.

"Why are you two always stalking me?"

"I am not a stalker!" I turn to see Demyx flailing all over the place. Ho-kay…

"Well you sure seem to know what happens to me a lot."

"Our lockers are right there." Axel points a little way down the hall away from the janitor's closet but before the lunchroom.

"Axy I bet he has no lunch money…!" Demyx is 'whispering' but it was rather loud.

'Axy' nods. "Hey, you want to come with us and eat?" He smiles like I might turn them down because they are _so _scary.

Really though? Wow it only took me three days to get a friend other than the trashcan and the apple tree. Happy day.

I stand and can't help but clutch my side and cringe. It's fucking hell. They both take a step closer like I'm about to keel over.

"Sure, thanks…" I manage out between clenched teeth.

They frown and Axel grabs my bag. I reach out for it but he just pulls it away.

"C'mon tough guy. You're hurt, just let us help you." Axel smirks and walks to the lunchroom behind a skipping Demyx. They end up buying me a sandwich and a small bag of chips with their extra money. I decide that this one time I'll take the charity from others and follow them to the table I'd seen them sitting at before. There's Pinky and Pirate as well as some emo kid who I've never seen before and a completely evil looking blonde girl. They all look up – except for Mr.Emo - when Demyx plops down with Axel two seats from him. He tugs on my sleeve and I take it as an invite so I sit between them. I didn't ever think I'd be so timid in front of people before but now I'm really nervous! Axel and Demyx are nice enough but I haven't met the others…

"Dude, who are you?" The pirate man stares at me with one golden eye. It's got to be a contact lens right?

"Yes, who are you?" I swear Pinky just fluttered his lashes at me.

I stay silent, nervous is never a good thing for me.

"Yo, kid! Speak up when you're asked a question!" The blonde girl swings her hand at me like she's going to hit me but Demyx slaps it away in time.

"This is Roxas. He's in our homeroom."

"Where'd he come from?" It's Pinky again and I can't really tell if his interest is fake or not. The emo kid finally shuts his book and blinks at me with one eye but stays silent. My eyes dart between him and Pinky.

"I'm from Twilight Town…" Really, why does it matter? I guess they're just interested but still.

"Whoa, dude! That's like… _far _away!" Pirate seems to have a large vocabulary. Almost reminds me of Hulk.

"Why are _you_ here at _our _table then?" The emo kid spoke quietly but everyone heard him. They all look at me but when I'm just quiet again (remember, when I was made someone forgot the special chromosome with social skills) Demyx speaks up.

"Axel and I rescued him." _Excuse me?_ "See?" Before I can even protest, he's pulled my shirt up to my armpits and everyone gasps, even Emo. What, is it _that_ bad? I don't like mirrors. They make me fat so I haven't really seen the bruise. I just feel how big it is whenever I move. Even Demyx and Axel seems surprised which confuses me. Haven't they seen it? Even the emo kid's mouth drops a little.

"That is the biggest bruise I have ever seen… O, it looks so painful!" Pinky's got a hand over his mouth.

"You get caught in a meat grinder or something?" The blonde girl asks. She looks rather interested in the morbid details; almost too interested…

"It was Seifer." Axel states quietly. I can feel him still looking at me.

I try but fail at pulling my shirt down since Demyx apparently has a level 999 super grip. He runs a chilly hand from my waist to my chest where the bruise is and stops around my armpit. I can't help but gasp since I don't like the cold and that's _really_ cold. Axel blinks at my face.

"Does that hurt?" As he sees me _cringing _away from his touch.

"Yes!"

"Demyx, let him go." Thank god for emo people. Demyx finally releases my shirt and I pull it down completely. Emo's just looking at me expectantly. "Roxas, if you don't mind me asking, why are you so thin?" I blink.

Everyone at the table has the same expectant expression so I assume they were all thinking that.

"But I'm not skinny…" Really, I have _no_ mirrors. That's why it's always a risk to go outside since I have no idea how my hair looks.

Demyx rubs my shoulders. "Are you anorexic?" He keeps rubbing them like I'm depressed or something.

"No," Which is true, I'm definitely not anorexic! Those people I feel sorry for since it's such a horrible… what's the word? Disease? In Twilight Town I just forgot to eat a _lot_ of times and now with Seifer stealing my money…

"Then why haven't you eaten anything?" Axel speaks from my right side. I'm surprised at how quiet the table got, and how they're all focusing on me. Demyx finally lets my shoulders go.

"Because you've been talking to me…?" To prove it I take a huge bite of the sandwich on my tray and swallow it in one gulp.

"Ok whatever dude." Pirate speaks.

Everyone goes back to eating and chatting about something or other except the emo kid. He's still looking at me and it's kind of freaky. I mean, when he's looking at me it's almost like he knows all my secrets. Like he can see into my mind!

I finish my sandwich as well as half of the bag of chips when the bell rings and the table departs to go to out next classes.

"What's your next class Roxas?" Axel's still got my bag as if I can't carry it.

"Yea, Roxas, what's yer next class?" Demyx pokes my cheek and thankfully, Axel slaps away the hand.

"Can I have my bag back?" I plea.

"No."

"C'mon Roxas, what's your next class?"

"I think Home Ec…"

"Same as us!" Demyx practically squeals.

"Well lead the way then" And they do.

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When we reach classroom 17, I let my two new friends go first. I can call them 'friends' by now right?

Anyway, the class is almost full with the exception of three seats at the back so we sit there, sharing a wooden table. The teacher stalks into the room, long silver hair in a ponytail and kind of spiky on top. He's walking like he's got a stick up his ass and it's rather amusing but I manage to suppress laughter.

"Good afternoon. Today's assignment is to make anything you like – food that is – and it must be completed in this forty-five minute class. You can be by yourself or in small groups. This will be on your report card so get working!" He sits in a wheelie desk chair at the front of the classroom and pulls out a magazine.

Demyx turns to Axel and I. "Okay, what're we gunna make?"

"Uhh… cookies like usual?"

"I don't know because in my old school I didn't have this class so I've never really made anything. Let's make something easy." Lie.

Axel blinks. "Didn't you have two months of high school already? I mean, we're all freshmen but it's almost November already." We've got a batch in the oven by now and it smells so good. I would have never guessed these two were good at cooking."Well yea but I skipped a lot of classes with my friends."

"Wh! You skipped classes? How much did you skip?" Demyx frowns slightly but almost sounds excited.

"Ah, almost everyday we skipped at least one class."

"Tsk tsk, bad boy." Axel wiggles a finger at me.

"Well I didn't _really_ want to skip so much I just… didn't have much of a choice."

"How would you not ha-"

The teacher walks over when the cookies are cooling on a plate. "Ah, I see you chose peanut butter cookies." He picks one up and takes a bite. "Very good. A's all around… Um, are you new?" He stops when he reaches my face.

"Yes, I'm Roxas."

"O right, the transfer student from Twilight Town. I was wondering when you'd get here. Anyways, I'm Xemnas." And with that, Xemnas walks away.

Demyx waits until he's two tables away then whispers to me. "Everyone calls him Mansex though."

I figure that I'm paling. "Why?"

"If you jumble the letters up in his name, you can get that. Plus," He turns to make sure others really aren't listening. "He's the gayest teacher in the school."

Most likely, this is the time I might faint in other situations but the smell of the cookies has the power to prevent that. Thankfully. It's not like I'm a homophobe or anything it's just… _odd_. I mean, two guys or two girls kissing? I've never met a gay person before, just seen them on TV once in a while or in ads or sometimes it would come up in conversation.

Never met though.

"You ok, Roxas?" Axel waves a hand in front of my face.

"Ye-ah, just zoned out I guess."

My friends look at each other and frown.

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I don't care if you read this only because you were bored, or that you hate this thing so far or my way of writing. I'm going to add to it anyways.

O yeah, happy x-mas! Or any other holiday…


	3. Chapter 3

✖**3****✖**Roxas

I cringe as I round the corner to the lunchroom. Seifer and crew didn't bother me yesterday (and for that matter, Axel and Demyx didn't interact with me out of the classroom either) and so I'm not sure what to expect. So far, this whole beat-up-Roxas-and-steal-his-money routine has gotten quite old. Being tired of something had never been so true for me.

Unexpectedly, someone grabs my wrist and pulls me down the janitor's closet hall instead of beating me up right there. I close my eyes in case this mystery person decides to punch my face like it had been before. Instead, they slam me against the wall and then their lips against mine. Whoa! They're kissing me and I can't do anything about it. They're pinning my hands on the wall and I can't move them! I almost don't want to see who it is who just bit my lip and shoved their tongue in my mouth so I keep my eyes tightly shut. They're pressing against my whole body, hard, so I can tell it's not a girl. That's what's scaring me.

Then it happens. He takes both of my wrists in one hand and uses the other to grope me in a way that makes me feel sick. And he keeps groping me like I'm some cheap whore! So far it had been easy to not respond to what this guy is doing to me but now it's impossible. I make some noise I don't even want to think about because whatever it is, it just makes the kisser kiss harder. It goes on and on, at some point I think I practically blackout from the uneasiness, soreness in lower regions and anger I'm feeling but maybe it's just a feeling since I forgot what it feels like to really blackout. I'm actually kind of surprised this guy doesn't mind me being a lifeless toy.

And they just keep doing _it_.

After what seems like forever, I hear someone stopping at the end of the hallway. I want to scream for help but I can't so it's a good thing the person runs over and pulls my so-called molester off of me. I sink to the floor because I feel like shit and finally open my eyes. There's…

Axel…

Practically strangling…

Seifer…

Axel looks furious and is hissing something in Seifer's ear while the blond is struggling to get out of the redhead's chokehold, looking rather frightened. And flushed… I catch the breath I didn't know I was missing and stand up. Axel looks over at me and lightens a little but doesn't let go of Seifer.

I wipe some spit off my mouth in disgust. "Uhh, who…?"

Axel frowns. "Seifer."

"And… why?" I can tell I'm not glaring but that's what I should be doing.

"…" Seifer looks away.

"Speak up you bastard." Axel gives him a good shove in the side.

"Because you're…" Axel elbows him again. "hot. You're hot okay!" He's blushing and avoiding eye contact.

Ho-kay. This is freaking me out now. This guy, who has been beating me up for days, is suddenly lusting for me? The whole Seifer problem has suddenly jumped a couple levels on my tolerance bar so it's even closer to intolerance.

"Dude… Even if… even if you do think something like that, you don't just start kissing me and feeling me up!" I connect my fist with his face, hard enough for Seifer to cry out once. Axel blinks down at me with wide eyes when I don't stop. He releases Seifer after a moment and instead grabs my wrists. I struggle and soon get loose- too late though to stop Seifer from dashing around the corner.

I turn on the closest living thing and spit at him. "Why the hell'd you stop me?" I take a step towards him but he doesn't back down even though I'm glaring and his own eyes are wide. I think it's because I'm so much shorter than him.

"I'm sorry you're pissed but you're just being Seifer if you beat him up! Where the hell'd you learn to do that stuff anyway?"

For some reason, my usual guard drops when I see his face. Maybe it's because he's stopped Seifer from raping me in the school hallway. Maybe it's because he's one of the only people in this whole school that have shown any sort of friendliness towards me. But then, maybe it's something else I haven't put my finger on yet.

"Remember how I said I wasn't exactly a star student? I was in a… gang … I guess." Axel's jaw slightly falls.

"Define gang." He crosses his arms. I'm not sure why we're still standing in the middle of the hallway still but nobody's here so I don't care.

"We stole things, beat people up, drugs, skipping cla-"

"_DRUGS_?" Axel steps closer.

"Yes, the things you hear about in health class that they always warn you about not to use." I've been through this territory.

"But didn't you like, get addicted?"

"Most of them did, but not me. I didn't do it as much as them I guess. I don't know, maybe I was just lucky. Actually, it's fucking amazing I'm not in rehab right now like one of my people is now. I'm really, really thankful for that and so I'm clean now, don't worry." I try to wave it off but he doesn't let it drop.

"Is that why you're so skinny? And what were you on? I mean, they're all so bad right?"

"Yeah I guess that's why I'm skinny. But I'd rather not try and remember what I was doing…"

Axel looks down at me with what I assume is concern. I just look back up at him. I bet he would never have guessed that little shrimpy me would have run with a group like that.

After a minute he sighs and blinks down at me with a small smile.

"Okay, that's it. I'm going to stick around you more. All you need to figure out is how to get drugs here or start punching people and bad stuff'll happen to you. I don't want you to be such a big fuck up that it's not even funny to make a fuck up joke." He puts a hand on my shoulder and turns me around. Then he steers me into the cafeteria and plops me down in a seat at his usual table. Demyx is next to me and Zexion is across from me but Pinky and Pirate aren't there. Neither is the blonde evil lady for that matter. I wonder briefly as to where they are but the thought is dropped soon.

Demyx blinks over at me when Axel just leaves me there and Zexion simply glances up from his book for about two seconds before going back to reading whatever it was. From where I'm sitting, it looks like a comic. Demyx smiles brightly and hugs me briefly.

"Roxas is back!" He ruffles my hair and I shake his hand out of my blond spikes. "Why'd you not sit with us yesterday?"

"Uh, nobody told me I could…" Seriously, nobody did.

Demyx laughs, probably at me. "You don't need permission, silly! You're our friend!" Zexion shuts his book and drops it into his backpack. He looks up, stares at me for a few seconds then sighs.

"Roxas, what happened?" O shit, why can this guy read my mind?

"Uhh-"

Luckily, my redhead savior walks up and shoves a tray of food in front of my face so I have an excuse not to answer. Thus, I pick up a sandwich and vow to never take food from these guys again.

That is, I vow _again_…

Zexion's mouth goes into a tight frown but he drops the subject for a moment nonetheless.

"Hey guys." Axel stuffs a handful of chips into his mouth and crunches loudly from his seat on my Demyx-less side.

"Hey Axy!" I swear, Demyx always is happy.

"Axel what happened to Roxas?" God will Zexion drop that?

"Uh, I dunno. Does he look different or something?" Thank you Axel. You're officially my favorite person here.

"…" Zexion waves his little mental white flag and retreats back to stabbing his salad.

I eat silently, merely listening to Demyx's loud talking and Axel's random responses to said talking. Zexion goes back to occupying his time with his book instead of his salad and I catch him glancing up at me every few minutes. It's kind of creepy in a way…

I think I'm drifting off to daydream land (which happens quite often) but Demyx passes something to Axel by means of his hand shooting out in front of my face. I follow the object as Axel takes it. From what I can tell, it's something on a spoon.

"C'mon Ax, try it! I made it myself last night and I'm trying to perfect it so I need a tester! It's just vanilla frosting…!" Demyx whines from my other side.

Axel looks at him. "That's what I'm afraid of. What if you spilled rat poison in it on accident or something? Plus, it's kind of chunky!"

"That is not nice! Why can't you even trust your best friend?" By now Zexion put his book down again and his eyes are moving between the three people in front of him.

"Fiiiiiine. I'll _try_ it." With that, Axel cautiously sticks his tongue out, into the frosting on the spoon and slowly licks it back into his mouth.

"Is it good? Is it good?"

"Actually, it is." With that, Axel licks the spoon again, then again until there's no frosting left. I don't know why I couldn't help but follow his pink tongue every time he licked the white stuff.

As soon as he's done though, I turn away, back to my food. But there's Zexion. His eye is looking at me curiously, mouth formed into what I assume is close to a smile. But the thing that I feel most uneasy with when he's looking at me like this is how he looks like he knows everything. God, it's so unnerving!

"No… wait. There was something missing in that. Like it wasn't sweet enough. It was almost too salty actually…" Axel hands the spoon back to Demyx.

"Ah, ok. I'll bring another batch tomorrow and you can try it then." I can hear Demyx frowning.

"Gee, I'll look forward to it."

Demyx reaches over my head and slaps him.

✖**-****✖****-****✖****-****✖****-****✖****-****✖****-****✖****-****✖****-**

I haven't been on here forever. So I'm home alone tonight, watching American Idol (voting for Danny and Jason-dreadlocks-man) and I just decide I have to update. This one and Living Here. So, happy day???

Review if you have something to say please! I'd update more often if I got feedback!!

(´┏＿┓｀)


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